Trump Says He’ll Terminate NAFTA, Threatens Canada

President Donald Trump says he’ll be “terminating” the North American Free Trade Agreement as he pursues a deal with Mexico and starts negotiations with Canada. Trump said Monday during an Oval Office event that he’ll be calling the emerging agreement the “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.” He says it will mark the end of the NAFTA name. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto was on speakerphone and says he hopes NAFTA partner Canada will eventually be incorporated into the deal.

The surprising scenes of Trump and the Mexican president congratulating each other in front of news cameras on successful bilateral negotiations that left Canada out appeared designed, in part, to pressure Canada. Peña Nieto wrote on Twitter that he has spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and expressed the “importance of re-joining the process, with the goal of concluding the trilateral negotiation this week.”